Fallen
by cnt spel and idc
Summary: Basically a couple of my fav characters in my own world, AU and slightly OOC, tho i tried to make it match. Anywho, Max, Nick  Fang , James  Iggy , and Ian  original  are in a band, but some funny stuff happens when Nick has to leave suddenly. FAX, T forL
1. Goodbyes

**Okay so this is the first chapter of a new story I've written. I have the next few chapters written, but I want to know what you guys think first. This is my first Maximum Ride fic, and it's obviously AU. They're human, FOR NOW. Tell me what you think. If I get some positive feedback, I'll update again, with the rest of what I've written. Please, enjoy.**

Fallen

**Max**

"Nick!" I whisper-shout at a dark window. "Niiiiccccckkkkkkk! Come out and play!" I say mockingly in a sing-song voice. Hmm. Most of the time he comes out by now. Nick has been my best friend since I moved to Carona Del Mar, California in the third grade. Now we're sixteen, and he's still the only one that I really open up to. We usually go to the cove right around now, but tonight he isn't answering like the ass he is. "Nick! Don't you dare make me come up there!" I whisper, a warning in my voice. Still no response. "Ugh. You frustrate me." I whisper as a last resort. I wait a good five seconds before sighing and walking over to the side of the house.

At age ten, we had both wanted ways to get in and out of our houses through our rooms. So we had both made pathways from our windows, his from the side of his house and mine from the porch and roof. I back away from the wall, take a deep breath, and run up the wall two steps, catching hold of the elevated concrete ledge jutting out from the wall. I then jump up, grabbing the small amount of tread that goes around the building. It's more for decoration than anything, but it has always served Nick and me well. I start moving around to his window, still dangling from a two inch lip ten feet above the ground. When I get to his window ledge, I hoist myself up and then proceed to knock on his window. He still doesn't answer, but I'm definitely not going to just sit out here the whole night, so I gently try opening his window. It slides with ease, and I let myself in.

I turn to Nick's bed. On normal nights he would be laying diagonally, one arm draped off the bed over his head, mumbling in his sleep while snoring lightly. (I know that kinds stalker-ish, but we both knew each other as well if not better than we knew ourselves. I'm sure he would be able to tell you how I sleep too.) Tonight though, the bed is deserted. The covers are thrown messily over the bed, and the pillows are just tossed on top. I walk over and feel the sheets. They're still warm.

Just then, Nick walks into the room. He's only half dressed with black slim-straight jeans. His icy blue eyes show amusement under the canopy of brown-almost-black hair. Then the familiar smirk comes to his lips and he says, "Jeez Max. I know you're eager to sleep with me, but come on. Sneaking into my room at 2 AM? Isn't that a little below you?"

I roll my eyes but smile, deciding to play along. "I just can't stay away from you! My shining knight, please take me now!" I keep my voice light and playful, and he smiles one of his rare light-up-the-room-better-than-the-sun smiles. I have to admit, my best friend is _hot_. His tan skin shows clear muscle definition even in the half light the outside street lamp gives us. And his hair is just long enough to make it look feathery without making him look girly. His teeth are as white as any teenager's teeth can be, and you could just melt into his bright eyes.

I'm snapped out of my embarrassing thoughts when he tackles me, knocking both of us onto the bed. He has me pinned down, and I can't move. "Well, if you insist." I look him straight in the eye, and stick my tongue out at him like a five year old. He's hovering just above me, propped up on his elbows. Then, he starts to move his face closer and closer to me. When he gets too close, I put my hands up to stop him. I try to ignore how it feels to be touching his abs like this. We're just friends after all. Sigh._ Just friends_. Oh well.

I shoot him a playful but warning look and joke, "I meant take me to the beach you pervert. We're supposed to meet James and Ian in like 15 minutes." He laughs and just like that he's gone. I hold back a sigh and stay there, lying on the bed. When I stand, Nick has pulled on a dark grey v-neck and a black and blue hoodie. "Come on, we're not gonna have any time to surf." I say as I start to grab his keys. My ride can't take two surfboards.

"Can we not today? I was hoping we could go to the cove." It's a surprise, but I don't mind. Surfing takes so much energy. I shrug and text James and Ian not to bring their boards.

"So we can take my ride. I finally got it back from my mom yesterday." At this, his eyes light up a little. He loves my ride. We go out the way I came in, and are around the far corner in a couple of minutes. My family definitely isn't rich; I saved my money since I was six to buy the beauty. I had always been obsessed by bikes, so it was no surprise to my mother when I got my motorcycle license. My dark blue BMW motorcycle is sitting in front of the house. A helmet is resting on the seat, and I hand it to Nick. Then I quickly run up to my room (by climbing up the porch rail and onto the roof) and grab the helmet that my mom doesn't know about. If she knew I took Nick with me I would never see my baby again.

When I get back, Nick is checking his phone. I stare at him from the window for a bit. Sighing, I slowly climb out again, careful not to make and noise. Nick looks up when I walk behind him, and then slips his phone back into his pocket. I cock my eyebrows questioningly, but don't say anything. Throwing one leg over the bike, I shove my helmet on. Nick gets on behind me, his shade already flipped down. I rev the engine once, and then we're flying. It's one of the best feelings you can have, to ride a motorcycle. My brown hair starts flying around, one of the blonde strands wriggling in my peripheral vision. I ignore it and get onto the highway. We're at the beach in five minutes, and Nick's smiling again when he gets off. I take the keys with me and slip them into the pocket of my signature leather jacket.

Soon enough, Ian pulls up in his old Camaro; James comes five minutes late in his 2007 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. We all walk over to the cove, laughing and shoving each other playfully. The four of us comprise a band called Fallen. I came up with the name myself. We're pretty much all best friends, though James is closer to Ian and I'm closer to Nick. Our band actually isn't that bad; we play local gigs almost every week. Ian slams on the drums, James pounds out the bass, Nick's on guitar, and I sing. We're pretty well known around the town, though for different reasons. We're all sixteen and go to CDMHS. And the beach visits happen almost every night.

We sit on the cliff that separates the cove from the normal beach. It's tall enough that you can't see the cove, but short enough that if we fall we won't get too badly injured. James brought Nick's acoustic guitar, which he had borrowed the week before. He hands it over and Nick immediately starts strumming. It's a song that he and I wrote last year. I sing along, not even thinking about it. Ian starts drumming on his leg and James nods his head with the beat. We continue with that until my voice is hoarse and Ian is asleep. I laugh and say that we should probably call it quits. They nod, James waking Ian. After we make sure they get out of the parking lot okay, Nick and I jump down to the actual cove.

The cove isn't secret. In fact, a lot of people go to our cove everyday. But at the hour we go, no one's ever there. So it's our cove. When we first started coming here, Nick took a piece of charcoal and scratched _Max and Nick Forever_ as a joke high up on one of the rocks. It's still there, only now there are little hearts drawn around it from when other people have seen it and thought it was cute. I still laugh every time I see it. The cove is pretty much flooded, but we're able to hop across on some tall rocks to the little wooden stand a little ways out. Then we sit for a while, just staring up at the moon.

Finally, Nick speaks up: "So…I have some news." I look up at him questioningly, but don't say anything. Only really good or really bad news needs an introduction. He takes his time with the next sentence, but finally gets it out. "I have to go on a trip with my dad." I laugh. I was worried at first, but a trip? That's no big deal. Trips are two way. As if reading my mind, he shakes his head slowly, sadly saying, "I don't know if I'll come back, but my dad says that it's not likely." This cuts my laughter short. _If? He has to come back. He can't leave. He's my best friend._

It takes me a while to get the word out. "When?"

"Two weeks. I'm allowed to finish the school year." I shake my head. Two weeks? No freaking way.

"Why? Why are you leaving?" I'm starting to get mad. He says he has to go, but life is _always_ a choice.

"I-I just have to okay?" He's sad, and I can tell he doesn't want me to ask why again. Because he's holding something back. And that's _not okay_. It means something is seriously wrong. We never hold things back.

This only makes me more frustrated, and I almost yell, "Why?"

"Max, don't push this. I just want to go. Maybe I don't want to hang around with you all the freaking time. Maybe I'm tired of you." That also, is _not okay._ We're best friends. We always hang out. And it's not like I ever stop him from hanging out with the guys; he's just never wanted to. He sees the hurt in my eyes, and looks away. He stops talking, and I realize that he's not going to say anything else. I stand abruptly, willing my tears to go away.

"Where'd this come from anyways? We were having such a great night. Why'd you have to ruin it?" My Nick wouldn't hurt me like this. He wasn't five minutes ago. Then I realize: this isn't Nick anymore. He doesn't respond, and I start to walk away. I get all the way to the other side of the cove before I hear, "Max wait! You're being stupid! We can-" I cut him off sharply.

"I am _not _stupid_._ You do _not_ have the right to call me Max. And we are _not_ friends anymore. Go on your trip. Leave. Just don't speak to me. Goodbye Nathaniel." I used his full name as I turned away, knowing that would hurt him more than anything I could ever do to him physically. When I get to the rock that says _Nick and Max Forever_, I get mad. I pull my sleeve over my hand and rub the charcoal away. Nick and Max ends today.

I get on my bike and speed away, throwing the other helmet in the dirt. He won't have a ride anymore, but I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, Nathaniel Bowers doesn't exist.

When I get home, I quickly scamper up to my room, shutting the door quietly so as not to wake my parents. I then go over to my window, lock it for good measure, and lay down on my bed, crying. He's leaving, and I can't do anything about it.

* * *

><p><strong>Nick<strong>

_Dear Max,_

_I'm so sorry about the way our talk went. I know I said all the wrong things. I also know that there's no excuse for my words. But I want to try to explain my choices. Lately, my dad has been really pushing for this trip. He wants to show me his work or something. At first I didn't want to go, but then he started pushing me a little more forcefully. The house has become really tense, seeing as I refuse to talk to him and he only talks to me when he has to. I'm being forced to go on the trip. It's not your fault that I'm going. I wasn't allowed to tell you, and I feel terrible about it._

_As to what the trip is for, I think I have a clue. When I was little my Dad flew me to some really weird Doctors that gave me a physical. But it wasn't a normal one. They drew blood and had me run on a treadmill with sensors taped to me; they even did a few psychiatric tests on me. They made me lift weights and fight with a guy. It's like they were trying to learn what I was best at in one visit. I think we're going back to the same place now. I think he wants them to use me as a test subject. I'm scared._

_When I got back from our fight, my dad told me that my chance of coming back has dropped to something more like 0.00000000000000000000001% and that we're leaving two days, not two weeks from today. The sad part is that he seemed extremely excited about the whole thing. Jackass. If you're reading this, chances are I've left. In case I don't come back, I want to ask you something. Will you go out with me? I know it sounds cheesy, but I always liked you as more than a friend. I just never had the courage to ask you. I guess it doesn't really matter anymore though. Just thought I would ask in my parting letter._

_Your Best Friend (no matter what you say), Nick_

I sigh as I look over the letter I've just written for the fourth time. I want, need it to be perfect. It's my last words to her, and I need them to say more than they do. I need them to say everything I'll never get to. Finally, it seems good enough. I seal it up and tuck it into my back pocket. It's my last day in CDM, and I'm strangely emotional as I reminisce about all the good times I had here. After all; if it hadn't been for this town I never would have met Max. And I have no clue what I'm going to do without her.

The school day goes by too fast, and soon enough the final bell rings. Max has been avoiding me all day, but I'm determined to catch her now. I rush out the door and run to my car, hoping desperately that she's running late. The fates are nice to me today, because I'm able to pull my Honda Pilot to a stop right in front of her just as she starts to try and pull out. I try not to think about the scowl that overtakes her otherwise beautiful features when she sees me.

"You're blocking me," she says when I roll my window down. Her voice is low with an edge, and I try to keep the fear from my face. I know not to trifle with an angry Max. "What do you want?"

I hold up my hands in defense and say in a neutral voice, "Woah, woah. Cool your jets. I just came to give you this." I reach one hand into my pocket and fish out the letter. Her angry mask does not falter as I hand it to her. "Please don't open it until you get home. I think that will make everything easier. For what it's worth, I'm sorry." I pause. Should I tell her? That might not be the smartest thing to do but I want her to know before I leave. I want to see her reaction. "And," I chicken out at the last second. "I'll miss you." Her mouth opens to say something, and just for a second, the mask is shattered. I see pain, curiosity, sadness, and resignation. She turns away, trying to hide eyes that are starting to water over. That's Max, always trying to hide her real emotions behind anger and strength. She puts on a good front, and she's certainly both strong and angry, but I've always been able to see through the guise.

"It doesn't matter. You're leaving." I nod, knowing that she's right.

"Goodbye," I say, giving her my signature salute before letting her go and driving away. I have no idea what's going to happen. All I know is that my best friend, my first and only love, won't be there. And I'm not ready for whatever it is.

**Kind of sad, but hey, most of my stories are. So, just a reminder, please review if you want more, or if you want me to never write again. Either type of feedback is welcome. If you liked it, I'd also encourage you to look at my other story, The Scars That Memories Leave. You don't have to, but I do like feedback. Anyways, see you guys soon **


	2. Airport

**SO I realize that the last chapter was kinda boring and fluffy for my writing. Don't worry, the action kicks up here.**

**Don't own MR, wish I did. Enjoy.**

**Max**

_I'll miss you too, more than you know, _I think to myself as I turn away. How dare he do that to me, after telling me those things last night? I had been avoiding him all day specifically to avoid this sort of thing. My head didn't want to be drawn back in, but my heart had never been let free. It takes everything I have to say, "It doesn't matter," instead of the sentence echoing in my head. There's silence, and then he's gone. I straddle my bike and watch him go, willing myself not to cry.

As soon as he disappears around the corner, I look down at the envelope. It has my name written out in careful script, rather than his usual messy scrawl. Clearly, he's trying to make it nice for me. But why would he give me a letter? He has two more weeks. I decide that there's only one way to find out. Still parked, I balance myself on my bike with my feet. The envelope is easy to rip through, but it takes a bit for me to convince my fingers to open the letter. While I read, the tears spill over. My helmet isn't on yet, so of course people notice. I hear the murmurs, but can't process them at the moment.

_If you're reading this, chances are I've already left…my chance of coming back has dropped…I'm being forced to go…always liked you. _The general message gets through, and I can only think one thing; _the trip can't be good news. I have to save him._ I tuck the letter back into my backpack and shove on my helmet. I rev the engine hard, putting the bike onto one wheel before speeding off.

The cop that sometimes waits outside of our school yells, but I ignore him. Soon enough, I hear the sirens of his car. Still I ride, swerving through traffic. He somehow manages to keep up with me, so I get over to the farthest left lane, with a big eighteen wheeler separating me and the cop. When I see a tiny break in the oncoming traffic, I slam on the brakes, putting my foot down to help me keep the bike down. It swings around underneath me, doing a full 180. I then slam on the gas again, and suddenly I'm going the other way. I see the cop go right past me.

I make it home in three minutes flat, and tear up the stairs. My mom comes in just as I dump all of the school things out of my backpack. "Sweetie, what are you doing?" Her voice has concern in it, but I can also hear a familiar edge. I know it well; she taught me how to frighten and threaten someone. We fight all the time, but I don't have any time right now. So I ignore her at first. "Maxine, _what are you doing?_" The concern is gone, revealing the edge I had already known was there.

"Nothing, mom, just going on a little trip up the coast. I won't be gone long." It wasn't a complete lie. I truly thought that it might not take that long. I thought I could catch him at the airport and somehow smuggle him out. That part was a little vague.

"Then why do you need a change of clothes?" She had noticed that, huh? Stupid moms, knowing everything. She didn't even deserve the ability. All she ever did was yell, not at all like a mom.

"I might get wet, and I want an extra pair. Riding wet sucks." That wasn't a complete lie either, I tried to tell myself.

"Oh, so you're going to the beach?"

I gritted my teeth and lied, "Yes."

"Have fun then."

I just nod. Shouldn't she be concerned about my going up the coast alone on a motorcycle with barely any cash and no specific time or place in mind? Theoretically, she should. But my mom just doesn't care. I finish packing a hairbrush, my wallet, a change of clothes, a map, all of my money, and a compass. Then I run down the stairs, and am out the door again in no time. I check his house, just in case, but find it completely deserted. His mom was never in the picture, just like my dad, and he was an only child. So I guess I should have expected it. I just didn't think that all of the furniture would be gone too. The next place to head is the airport. He said that last time his dad flew him to the odd place.

I don't find a trace of them on the highway, but try not to let that discourage me. I get all the way to the airport and start to prowl the parking lot in search of either of their cars. John Wayne International Airport is separated by Airlines. I comb through Delta and America Airlines before I finally find Nick's car. A little farther on I find his father's. They're parked in the Southwest Airlines section. I swing my bike around and park in a section designated for motorcycles. Riding a deathtrap (as my mom so often called my baby) definitely had its advantages.

I cut the power and, after locking my helmet to the bike, jog into the large building. The line is outrageously long, and I don't see Nick and his dad anywhere in it. I run over to the security check point line and finally see them, about to go through the metal detectors. I look around frantically, finally deciding that I would need a ticket to get past the guard. The lady at the counter looks up in surprise as I run up. Panting, I say in a rushed voice, "I need a plane ticket. What's your cheapest destination?" I figure I can just switch it with one of the people at the gate if I can't get to them before the plane boards.

The lady types on her computer for a moment, and then replies, "There's one to San Francisco for 89 dollars. It leaves in thirty minutes." I pull out my cash and pay her. Her eyes go wide for a moment, as if she hadn't expected me to be serious. But then she gives me the ticket and I run off. Surprisingly, I'm able to find a spot to cut fairly close to the metal detectors. A middle-aged mom is arguing with her husband and kid. She's completely turned around and doesn't see me jump in front of her. The security line, curse it, takes a whole ten minutes. I race through the scanner, grab my shoes, backpack, and keys, and rush into the gate.

There are only 16 gates, so it isn't hard to find Nick at one of them. At 5'10, he's pretty tall for sixteen. They're at _my _gate; they're headed to San Francisco. The tricky part is getting close to them without his dad seeing. Mr. Bowers is a fairly observant man, but eventually I'm able to get to a restroom that allows me to see them without letting them see me. When I finally get turned around, I take a close look at Nick. The first thing I see is how tired he looks. The second thing is that Ian and James are both there too. WTH? They look completely different than they did yesterday. As if they're different people; they seem to be guarding him. WTH? I want to talk to Nick before he gets on the plane, but don't think I'll be able to.

I stuff my jacket into my backpack, putting my hair into a neat bun. I then go to the nearest shop and buy glasses and a magazine. I shove them on and put the magazine in front of my face, keeping my eyes on the ground to avoid hitting people. When they're on the plane, I take a deep breath and go through the portable tunnel and onto the plane. I try to avoid them, and pray that I don't have a seat next to them. I don't, and actually have a seat closer to the front than them. I thank my good luck and sit down, slouching to avoid being recognized in the back.

The plane ride is unbearable. I try to figure out my thoughts during the short hour and a half that feels like a month. James and Ian appear to have joined forces with Mr. Bowers. I think back to all of the good times we've had, and realize I'm hurt. How could they? Then I think about Mr. Bowers, the guy that always had my back. He had been the closest thing to a father figure I'd ever had. How could he? I knew he was an esteemed scientist in the field of human observation, a very scientific man to be sure, but I never thought he would force his son to go and be experimented on. My mind wanders to what type of experiments he'll be put through if I can't save him. Hopefully nothing too horrible, but I don't want to take the risk.

When the plane lands, I get up as quickly as I can, racing out of the craft; I want to get behind them somehow. I exit the bridge and hide behind some plants close to where I just came out. They eventually come out and I follow them at a discreet pace. It takes me a few moments to realize that Ian isn't with them. Crap. I turn around just in time to get hit. I collapse, seeing his face just before I fall unconscious. Crap.

* * *

><p><strong>Nick<strong>

When I get home, I see my dad waiting on the front stoop. I had considered running, but figured that it wouldn't accomplish anything. And if I wasn't gone by the time Max read the letter, she could get hurt. So I go home, calmly put the car in park, and then walk inside. My eyes go wide when I see James and Ian sitting on my couch, flipping through the channels. I have no idea what's going on, but don't like the looks of it. They need to leave. "Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

James turns to me, a sinister smile on his face. "Taking you to the Place. What do you think, that we're actually watching soccer?" He always hated soccer, and I almost think it's the regular James sitting on the couch.

But then my brain processes what he said, and I say in disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me. You guys are in on it? How long?" I demand in a voice that doesn't even sound threatening to me. Max was always better at that. I've always been the calm, persuasive one.

He cocks his eyebrows before answering, in an amused tone, "Since we moved here in the fifth grade. We grew up at the Place, and now we're going to be going through the same thing as you. The only difference is that we always knew this day was coming." I can't believe it. They had immediately started hanging out with Max and I when they got here, but the friendship had always seemed natural. It was unreal that they had been _trained_ to be my friend.

"I guess I read you wrong, because I never thought I'd call you a sell out." I spit in his direction. Ian gets up quickly, walks over, and angrily punches my lights out.

{[(***)]}

When I wake up, we're in the car. I see the sign for John Wayne, and know that I was right about the experimenting thing. Realizing that James and Ian are willing to be experimented on, I shudder. My head is pounding, so I know that Ian was trying hard. He had always been strong for his size.

Check out and security goes perfectly normal, Ian pretending to be my brother, and James staying close behind us. My dad is perfectly charming with all of the guards, so they all think I'm just another brooding teenager. Boy, were they wrong.

When we're at the gate, sitting in those little plastic chairs, I see Max running into the bathroom across the room. My mind goes into overdrive. She _can't_ be here. I must have just been seeing things. But then we get on the plane, and she boards after us. She's tried to disguise herself, and it might have worked if Ian and James weren't here. But they are, and she still has her backpack on. When she got it last year, we had all scribbled our three favorite quotes onto the black material in whiteout. Ian tells James, who then tells my dad, and I see him smile. What a sick man. I decide right then not to call him dad anymore. He's not a father.

"I always wondered how a girl like her would do. We'll take her with us. If she tests positive, she can join you three. If not, we can always dispose of her." Dispose of her? Scratch the not a father thing. He's not even human. My above normal perception picks up the way James and Ian squirm when he says this and I realize that they aren't necessarily happy about the whole situation like I'd thought.

I store the information away and focus on how she could have gotten here. She must have read the letter right after I left. Max never was one to listen to other people. I should have known that she would do that. It was dangerous of me to give it to her personally. I should have left it in her mailbox. I briefly beat myself up about that and then think about why she would have gotten on the plane. What is she hoping to accomplish? Did her mom just let her come? How did she get the ticket? I answer all of my questions with two words. _She's Max._ Then, _Damn it, she's Max. She can't be here!_ The thought hits me like Ian's punch, and I realize that she's in serious danger because of me.

When the plane leaves, she's the first one off. This doesn't matter to Jeb (my father) though, as he thinks she'll try and get behind us. So he has Ian stay behind and I, James, and he walk out like everything's normal. I try to signal her, but James has me blocked off. I finally manage to spin and duck under him, just in time to see Max get her lights punched out. Crap. Ian manages to act like she fainted and carries her bridal style. Then James spins me back around and knocks me out too. Again. Crap.

**So I'll be back soon. Once again, any feedback you have would be great. It inspires me to know that people actually care what about what I'm working on, so if you like it, TELL ME. If you don't, TELL ME. That way we all get what we want. R and R please.**


	3. Tests

**Okay so I know it's been a while, which is why I tried (I don't know if I succeeded) to make this chapter a little longer. It's summer now, which means that I will be updating more frequently. I know the beginning was a little slow, but trust me, it's gonna get better!**

**I don't own Maximum Ride, wish I did cus then I'd be rich and famous and actually talented. But I don't, so I'm not. Anyways, here's the new chappy**

Max

When I wake up, I'm sitting in an extra large dog cage. Fang is sitting next to me in a similar cage. Then again, I think, this whole thing is pretty twisted. Ian and James are sitting at a table in the middle of the room, calmly eating pancakes and coffee.

"Morning," Nick says lightly to me. "Are you okay?" The question is laughable coming from him. Aside from the fact that his dad kidnapped him to experiment on, his face is bloody and bruised.

I smile at the question."Just ...they're monsters...what else is new?" I gesture to Ian and James as I say monsters. They assisted Nick's father in kidnapp and abuse. Not very humane.

But Nick just shrugs and says jokingly, "We're dogs?" I laugh and counter, "I guess the budget didn't have room for actual prisons. They had to save room for the pancake maker in the back."

Nick smiles one of his half smiles. "Max, I- " Right when he's about to say something good, Mr. Bowers walks in, looking at some papers on a clipboard.

"Alright Max. Since you were a late recruit, we'll need to get you caught up with the testing." He talks as if this is a normal doctors appointment. As if I'm actually doing this becuase I want to. He gestures, and Ian and James get up. They come and unlock my cage, pulling me out. They grab both my arms and walk me out of the room. Mr. Bowers follows, using that same relaxed tone to talk me through the process. "First, We'll get your BMI, height, weight, blood type, ect. Next is strength and endurance. After that will be real world skills and brain function. Finally, we'll test your strength of will and durabitlity. I hope you score well." He gives me a tight smile.

"What happens if I don't?" I ask cautiously.

"You will be eliminated. Good luck" He gives me another tight smile and walks away. I gulp and look around. We are in a doctor's room. They take my blood, weigh and measure me, take my lood pressure, and then do some reflex stuff. I'm very healthy, so this really isn't a problem for me. I have perfect eye sight and all that, so I really don't need to worry. Sure enough, they pass me through a door into the next room. I notice a door at the other end of the room and realize that they must have the rooms linked. This really is a process.

This room is like a workout room with a treadmill, a weight bench, bars, medicine bals, mats, and dumbells. I get a nice workout in, starting with maxing all of the lifts I know. I actually workout a lot thanks to playing sports at school. We're in the wieght room twice a week. I bench a nice 100 pounds, which is great for someone of my stature. I do the rest of the excersizes they have, working up a nice sweat. Finally, they put me on the treadmill. I've run for 30 minutes straight when I realize that not only are they increasing the speed, but they aren't planning on letting me stop anytime soon. I have to run until exhaustion. This is the endurance part.

I've been running for close to 1 hour when I feel my legs starting to give out. I know that as soon as they do, I'm going to painfully fall off of the treadmill and onto the floor, using my face as a cushion. Unfortunately for me, there are side bars on either side to prevent anyone from jumping to the side. I have no choice but to keep running. Another twenty minutes pass before I fall, scraping my face and hands while bruising my knees and chest. Ian and James come in and pass me through to the next room. This room is completely white with only a helmet coming down from some cables in the wall. The helmet has a visor, and once on I realize that it is a simulator. I'm put through different tests, from escaping rooms to disguising myself to hiding from certain people. I only get caught a couple of times, which I think is good. James and Ian come in as always to shuffle me through to the next room.

The final room scares me. Alot. There is only a metal table with clamps to hold down feet and hands. Mr. Bowers walks in with a tray. I gulp when I see the tools on the tray. There are only scalpels, which very in size. He gestures and Ian and James chain me onto the table.

"Alright Max. This is how the durability test will work. Ian will tell you a phrase that I do not know. Then I will try to get it from you. Your job is to keep the phrase from me for as long as you can stand." I gulp again and start to sweat.

Ian walks over to me. "I'm so sorry," he whispers in my ear. The sincerity in his voice confuses me. I don't know whether it's real or not, but I can't let that get to me right now. I just need to focus on not giving up and ignoring the pain.

My attention snaps to Mr. Bowers as he takes a step closer to me and picks up a medium-sized scalpel. He creeps closer to me, stopping only when he's a foot away. The look in his eyes turns my stomach. It's like an artist looking at a blank canvas, picturing what they're going to paint. He rolls up my sleaves, then laughs.

"You're shaking already? I haven't even gotten started yet. Tch-tch. If you're trembling now, you won't last long at all when I actually begin. Oh well." I didn't realize that I was trembling. The first bite of metal is just below the crucial part of my wrist. It's not deep enough to touch tendon, but still draws blood and hurts like a bitch. "What was the phrase? Come now Max, you just have to tell me the phrase." His voice is tempting, but I seal my lips and just shake my head. The second bite is an inch below the first, equally shallow and painful. I keep shaking my head, and he keeps cutting. Finally, when I have five cuts on each arm, I black out.

I wake up in the same dog cage. Nick is there, but Ian and James are gone, presumably in nice beds. My arms are bandaged and stitched, but they ache and sting when I move. Nick and I talk and banter to pass the time, debating how twisted they are on a scale of one to ten. I say 50, he says 75. We are just about to start singing loudly to try and wake them up when Ian and James walk in, followed by Mr. Bowers. He still has his clipboard, but there are more papers now.

"Congratulations Max! You made it! It was a little close on the worldly skills, but you more than made up for it in your endurance and durability." He says this like I've just won the lottery. Which, I guess I did.

"So now what?" I ask in a carefully emotionless voice.

He smiles like the sick man he is. "Now comes the fun stuff."

* * *

><p><strong>Nick<strong>

I watch sadly as Max is dragged out the door by Ian and James. They really are twisted. I have to save her. It's my fault she even got mixed up in this mess. I've been thinking of ways to escape, but Ian and James have been watching us the whole time. Now that they're gone, I might as well make my move. This might be the best chance I'll get. The only chance I'll get.

I scan the room to check for cameras, but don't find any. I guess they think Ian and James will keep me in my cage. Reaching around the bars, I take out the two hair pins I managed to get from unconscious-Max in the car on the way here. She won't miss them. I use them to pick the lock on the cage. Easy as cake. I get out and stretch my legs, which have been cramped in the cage for the past 12 hours. The first thing I do is walk over and finish off Ian and James' pancakes. I'm starving.

Then I calmly walk over and out the door. The more rushed I seem the more likely it is that I will be caught. The outside is a maze of white-washed walls. I need to find a keycard to get through several of the doors, which I think will lead me to Max.

My memory of the place from years ago isn't very good, but I do remember that Jeb always had a keycard to flash. So I had to find a guard or scientist to steal from. After wandering around for a good half hour, I run into some guards. I make quick work of them, beating the crap out of them before finally knocking them out and shoving them in a nearby closet. I take the smaller guy's uniform and keycard, putting both on. I straighten my tie as I walk out of the cramped space, wondering if Max would like what she saw.

The next hour is wasted away as I walk past guards who don't recognize me and fight the many others who do. It takes a while to search through all of the key crad guarded rooms. I'm getting impatient when I finally find her. The second to last room in a section is odd. It seems to be a sort of observance room.

There's a wall on the far side of the room made entirely of glass. On the other side of the glass is an empty torture room. I try to ignore that room and the unwelcome thoughts that come with it. There are scientists talking at a desk when I walk in. I make quick work of them (have you ever seen a nerd that can fight? I didn't think so) and then sit down at the desk. Several laptops sit open on the desk, and I try to figure out what I'm looking at. After several minutes of studying the image, I realize that it's Max's brain scan. Oh no.

Just then, Ian and James march Max through a door in the torture room, strapping her onto the metal table in the center of the room. Jeb walks in through the door at the opposite end of the room, pushing a tray with scalpels in front of him. Shit. He starts talking, but I can't hear what he's saying. I don't need to. The picture speaks for itself. Ian walks over and whispers in Max's ear, then motions for James to follow him out the door. Jeb takes two steps towards Max, chuckling with a scalpel in his hand. I bolt for the door. I need to save her. She can't go through this just for me. It's all my fault.

I open the door so fast that I almost don't hear the conversation going on in the hall.

"What are we going to do? Run away? You know they have tracking chips on us. We can't do anything about it." Ian sounds miserable as he says this. The two are leaning against the door they just exited through.

"I know, I just feel so terrible. I mean, we were best friends and they trusted us. I wish we could do something about- Hey! How the hell did you get out of your cage?" James interrupts himself when he sees me.

I don't think about what they just said. I don't think at all. I just charge, tackling James and getting two solid hits in before Ian pulls me off. I make a run at him, and we trade blows for a good couple of minutes before James comes up behind me. I try to kick backwards, but Ian gets me in a headlock, holding me steady for James' incoming blows. I take three or four before blacking out.

When I wake up, Max is sitting beside me in her cage again. Which means that I'm in mine too. I feel a surge of guilt as I see the bandages that wrap her forearms. It's my fault. Tears spring in the corners of my eyes. Why couldn't I save her? She stirs, and I swallow down my tears. I have to be strong for her, now more than ever. She wakes up, and I try to cheer her up. We joke and banter, laughing until Jeb walks in and interrupts us.

"Congratulations Max! You made it! It was a little close on the worldly skills, but you more than made up for it in your endurance and durability." Thank God for that. I don't know if I could stand to lose Max. I love her, after all.

"So now what?" Max asks in a fake-emotionless voice.

He smiles like the sick man he is. "Now comes the fun stuff."

**DuhDuhDuhhhhhhhhhhhhh**

**So obviously he's a sick twisted evil man and that's the way it's supposed to be (he's Jeb, after all) More to come next time!**

**Do you like it? Hate it? either way, please tell me! Review!**


	4. Others

**IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THE BOLD LETTERS IN ALL OF MY UPDATES. I KNOW THAT I HAVEN'T DIRECTLY SAID THAT YET, AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU GUYS REALIZE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO READ THE BOLDED LETTERS AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF EACH CHAPTER. Now that I'm done with that: Okay guys so I updated my other story Monday night/Tuesday morning saying that I would try and update by Wednesday. It's Wednesday, and here I am writing. We'll see if I finish by the end of today. Anyways, here's the next part of the story!**

**I don't own MR.**

Nick

I watch as Jeb, the sick old bastard, walks out of the room. He apparently is giving us a break. In the short reprieve we have, I feel the need to get something off my chest. Just in case I don't make it back.

I try to block out that thought as I voice my next one.

"Ummm…so are you guys going to go through the same tests as us?" I speak to Ian and James, since they have lingered in the room and seem to be a good source of information.

They look up, surprised that I'm talking to them. It's the first time that I've seen them since our fight, and I'm pleased to see that they both have some nasty looking bruises on their faces. "Yes. We will be undergoing the same operation as you." James answers stiffly.

"So, we're in the same boat?"

"More like they're holding us captive on the boat," Max mutters under her breath. I hold back a smile. I have to remind myself why I'm talking to them at all.

I miss our old friendship, the bonds that we had with each other. Based on the conversation I overheard yesterday, they miss it too. So why not try to rekindle it, if we're either going to die or live as freaks together?

"If that's how you look at it. I think what we're doing to further humanity is a noble cause, a great opportunity; I'm not stuck in any boat." God he sounds like such a douche bag. Then I remember that James kind of _is_ a douche bag. He just never was to us, since we were always friends. I just kind of always overlooked it.

"_Okay_ but _I_ think it's like being stuck in a boat. So we're stuck in the same boat." I choose to ignore the eye-role Ian gives James. "Should we really be fighting this much? I mean, we're either going to all die in the experiment, or we'll all be branded as freaks. Why does that friendship we had have to be over?" Max looks appalled at my statement, clearly not ready to give them any sort of friendship. They have the same look.

Ian speaks up this time, a sneer having taken over his features. "Because we _want_ it to be over. Did you not get that from the punches?" I sigh. I didn't really expect this to work, but I guess it was worth a try.

Max, ever the violent one, agrees with James. "Yeah. Sorry Nick, I just don't think I'm ready to deal with their douche-baggery yet." Speaking to James, she adds, "But if you think for one second that you can keep intimidating us with that pathetic sneer, you're wrong. You know what I'm capable of, so you know not to cross me."

The last sentence is said in one the scariest voices I have ever had the displeasure of hearing Max use. Ian's face drops the sneer immediately, and he mumbles a quick "Whatever," before retreating. Ian apparently doesn't feel comfortable in the room either, because he gets up and leaves without another word.

"What was that all about?" Max turns to me after they both leave, dropping her menacing act. I eye her, wondering if she's really not angry.

"I was just about to ask you that. I mean, one minute you're peachy, the next you sound like a serial killer."

She rolls her eyes, smiling a little. "Nick, I have to be menacing sometimes. A girl my age? I have to use what defenses I have. Anyways, those two really do piss me off a lot. Acting like our friends all those years and then…and then just turning on us. It's just not right. Why would you even suggest that?"

"Well, think about it," I say in a patient voice. I explain my reasons to her, reading her expressions to see how much I've convinced her. I can see the doubt in her eyes even as I remind her of our friendship with them, of the good times.

"I just don't know…I mean they literally knocked me out twice. They knocked _you_ out. Don't you care?" Her face is twisted in confusion. She wants to hear what I'm saying, but isn't quite ready to let go of her opinions yet.

"I'm just saying, if we're going to be stuck in the same life with them…This experiment that Jeb is going to do…it might not end that well. Even if we survive, we'll end up freaks. The world will shun us, but that doesn't mean that we'll have to shun each other. I just think it would be good to heal this up before anything bad happens."

She sighs, but finally says, "I'll try. If they aren't complete ass holes then I'll try."

I smile at her. "That's all I was asking for." Our eyes lock through the bars, and she smiles back, her rare, real smile that made everything inside me melt. (Of course, I would never tell her she could do that to me. Not only would she have that power over me forever, but she would also never stop taunting me about it. It would be awful.)

She opens her mouth uncertainly, another rare thing for her. "Nick, we haven't talked about what was in the note." Oh God, she's going to pull back. She always does this. Why does she always do this? "Um, I just wanted to say- "

Whatever she was going to say is interrupted as four huge guys walk into the room. They almost look part ape, which is insane. I'm almost thankful that she is interrupted. I don't want to hear the next words in that sentence.

I look at Max and visibly shake off the uncertainty and switch back into brave smart ass mode. "Thank God you guys are here. I think that's about all the neck cramps I can take for one day. I mean really, dog crates? So unoriginal for mad scientists."

The guys don't even look at her. They walk over to our cages, two to each, and just pick them up, cage and person. I struggle to keep my balance as they swing me around corners. I see Max in front of me, looking like a cat being thrown around in a car. I struggle not to laugh, but when she actually makes a grunting sound, I can't help it. I crack up, my stomach hurting from laughing this hard. She stares at me with a death glare, so I try to somber up a bit.

"Where are you even taking us?" I manage to yell out.

"You're going to get prepped for surgery with the other volunteers," One of the ape-men says. Max scoffs at the word volunteer.

I'm about to speak up to agree with her (after all, my inner smart-ass always gets stronger around hers) when we arrive at our destination. Ian, James, and six other teenagers around our age are sitting at a table playing cards. Sitting on the floor along the wall are five other cages exactly like ours, with more kids sitting there, terrified.

"My god. It isn't just us." Max voices my thoughts as we stare, horrified, at the others.

Max

I stare at Nick as we watch Ian and James leave the room. Dicks. I can't believe that Nick wanted to patch things up with them. I can't believe that Nick thought they would accept. Then again, I also can't believe that I'm sitting in a dog cage, kidnapped from home, about to be experimented on by my best friend's dad.

"What was all that about?" I want to hear the thought process that lead to me having to use my menacing voice. He asks about my scary voice, which just makes me laugh. Doesn't he get that I have to fend for myself? Hell, sometimes I have to fend for him too. I have to be scary. And anyways, those guys are dicks. I tell him so, and he gets his smart, patient face on.

"Well, think about it. We don't want to burn all our bridges. Plus, they might be able to help us escape, seeing as how they can pretty much do whatever they want here."

What he's saying makes sense, but I don't want to hear it. I hate those guys now. I hate that they would betray a friend in a heartbeat like that. I hate that there's the possibility that we were never really friends. I hate that they played us. And Nick doesn't seem to get it. Sometimes I don't understand how he can be so calm, how he never gets angry. I mean, how can he not be angry about this?

"I just don't know…I mean they literally knocked me out twice. They knocked _you_ out. Don't you care?" He smiles a little, and I just don't get it. What's he smiling about? This isn't funny.

He starts talking in his rational voice again, about how we might be in the same lifestyle and we might as well be with friends when all of society shuns us. I try to force myself to hear what he has to say.

"I'll try. If they aren't complete assholes, I'll try." But I'm sure they'll still be assholes.

"That's all I was asking for." He smiles his bright smile, the one that makes sunshine and rainbows appear out of thin air. I can't help smiling back, our eyes locked. This is it. This is a perfect time to tell him what I've been dying to tell him for years.

The question is really whether he was just saying that stuff because he thought he was going to die. He might not be really ready for this. Or he might not reciprocate my feelings. Either way, I feel like it's now or never. So I clear my face and plunge onwards. "Nick, we haven't talked about what was in the note." I take a deep breath when I see his face visibly pale. He looks away, avoiding my eyes. Not the best sign, but I have to continue. "Um, I just wanted to say- "

I'm cut off when to gorilla-men walk into the room. Like they seriously have uni-brows and everything. Weird, but I can't let it affect my trademark flippant teenager act. I shake myself mentally and then speak up, spewing the first smart ass comment I can make. They just ignore me and pick up my cage. They shake it a bit, and I tumble around. Ugh. We wind our way through the Place, all the while tumbling around. I look behind me and see Nick, keeping his balance, watching me.

I grunt as they give an extra hard shake and Nick cracks up, laughing at me. I just glare at him, and he sobers up a little bit. "Where are you even taking us?" He yells through gritted teeth as he hits the back wall of his cage.

"You're going to get prepped for surgery with the other volunteers," a gorilla man says. I scoff at the word volunteer. Like anyone besides Ian and James are volunteering for this shit. I see Nick open his mouth, but whatever he's about to say is lost at the back of his throat. We are carried into a room, shoved against a wall. At least we're still next to each other. I take a minute to check myself for bruises before taking in my surroundings.

Ian and James are sitting calmly at a table in the center, playing cards with six others that look about our age, if a little younger. Along the wall are five other cages, identical to ours, with terrified kids in every single one of them. "My God. It isn't just us." Nick nods and I turn to look more closely at the kids.

They range from age eight to fourteen. The oldest, a fourteen year old girl, is sitting, moving her mouth, almost like she's talking to herself. She has beautiful mocha skin, with black curly hair to match. Her features are that of and exotic princess, but right now she looks as helpless as a baby.

Next to her sits an Asian guy that looks to be about eleven. He has his left ear pierced, with a spikey faux hawk. He sees me watching, and looks away.

Another guy sits at the back of his cage, looking really pissed off. He's looks to be about thirteen, but his height doesn't match it. I can tell, even when he's sitting down, that he's only about 5'3''. His, demeanor however, makes him seem taller.

Next to him is a blonde boy, around nine years old. He keeps looking at the cage next to him, a protective fire in his blue eyes. I realize that he must be her older brother.

I look at her. The youngest, a little blond girl, is crying. Her hand is stretched through the bars, reaching towards the table. I look and see a teddy bear dressed as an angel sitting there. My heart breaks for her. I can't believe that they would do this to an eight year old.

"Hey! Someone give that girl her bear! What do you think, she's crying about?" James looks at me, snorts, and turns back to his cards. Ian looks, and I think I see a tear in his eye. Then he blinks, and turns back to his cards. "Assholes!" A couple of the teens at the table turn, and I get my first good look at them.

There's a tall, light brown haired guy. He reminds me of a young David Beckham, but he looks much, much meaner. His scowl makes what would have been really hot features look ugly and distorted. He's definitely our age.

Hanging on his arm is a slutty looking tall girl. She's probably the same age as us, but obviously thinks she's Miss Universe. As if. She has the whole Barbie blond-hair-blue-eyes-thing going on, with too much mascara and not enough clothing. She's looking at Nick, licking her top teeth in a not-so-subtle hint. Bitch.

Next to her is another, much less pretty girl. She has clearly dyed her hair blonde in an attempt to be more like slutty Barbie. Poor girl. If that's her only role model, it's no surprise that she's ended up like this. I notice something odd about her though. She occasionally steals glances at the guy Barbie's hanging off of. She also looks much nicer. I almost feel bad for her.

Looking at her in a womanizing way is a guy that I have absolutely no respect for. He clearly thinks of her as only easy prey. His beady eyes and black hair make me think of him as a crow. I hate crows. He looks about fifteen, and I roll my eyes. He's too young to be thinking of girls as meat.

Another girl sits, skulking in her seat. She's clearly out of the game. With frizzy, black hair and tan skin, I gather that she must be at least half Mexican. And from the look in her eyes, very competitive. Whatever.

Finally, a fifteen year old brunette with plain features and shy eyes sits quietly in her seat, hands on her lap. I get the feeling that most people that see her don't remember her. She seems nicer than the other girls, and certainly not as much competition.

Nick, having seem the same looks as I speaks up to break the uncomfortable silence. "So, I think introductions are in order. I'm Nick."

He looks to me, and I roll my eyes but say, "Max."

Ian and James look at each other before Ian says, "You all already know us."

Evil hotty says, "Aaron."

"I'm Heather," Barbie says.

Barbie wannabe follows with, "Elle," in almost the exact same tone as Heather. So sad.

Womanizer says, "Peter," looking at me with interest for the first time. Ew.

Skulking Mexican says, "Dannie," in a surprisingly valley-girl accent.

Plain Jane quietly says, "Amber," in what can only be described as a whisper.

All of the table introductions are over, so I turn to the cages expectantly. They look at me in surprise, as if I think they don't matter. "And you guys are…" I say to encourage them.

"It's so good to meet you guys! I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to say that much from now on since the older kids keep making me be quiet. If you can't tell, I'm a bit of a talker but I think that makes the time pass faster. It sure does for me. Anyways, I don't know if you guys have already been tested but I apparently passed which is good only now I'm nervous about the experiment. Oh wait, I'm supposed to call it a surgery that's what the guys who feed us say. I really don't get why- "

The short guy with attitude turns to her and says in an annoyed voice, "Crystal, _shut up_!" She stops talking, hurt all over her face. I feel bad, but at the same time I'm relieved. Her words were so stringed together that I could barely understand her. He turns to me. "I'm Mitchell." His voice is confident, which I like.

The Asian calmly says, "Ryan," before continuing to drum on his thighs.

The brother turns to me and says, "I'm Jake, and that's my sister, Angel. She's a little upset right now."

I nod. I watch the others for a little bit, and notice some things.

1) The table group were rich, and most of them were arrogant. They were all volunteers

2) The cage group appeared to be homeless, and kidnapped off the streets

3) Aaron seemed to be the leader of the table group

4) Heather and Aaron are a thing

5) Elle has an uber crush on Aaron and an uber obsession with Heather

6) Amber doesn't talk. Like at all

7) Mitchell seems to be the leader of the cage group

8) Jake is really a good, loving guy. But he only loves his sister

9) Crystal talks too much, too fast

10) The two groups completely ignore each other

I'm about to talk to Nick again when Jeb walks in.

"Alright everybody, I have a few announcements." Immediately, everyone in the room is completely silent, the cage group out of fear and the table group out of respect. "As you know, you are all going to receive an experimental surgery which will enhance your senses and abilities. However, we only have the capacity to hold twelve subjects." A shocked murmer goes through the room. What will happen to the other, unlucky three? "This means that all of you, after receiving the surgery, will compete in training. We will see which of you does best in each area, and rank you according to your performance. The top twelve will live. It is that simple. Good luck. I will see you bright and early tomorrow for the surgery that will change your lives."

**Okay so not a particularly interesting chapter, but obviously necessary. I also obviously didn't finish on Wednesday, but I have a good excuse! We were at Nationals this week, so I didn't have all that much time. Plus, this chapter is really important and obviously very long, so I wanted to make sure I got everything right. I just want to point out that I changed several small details in every chapter. In chapter one, Nick doesn't say I love you to Max, he only says that he will miss her. I fixed a typo in chapter two and can't remember what I fixed in three. Oh well. Anyways, thanks for reading, please review I am going to start working on another chapter for this and then I will update STML.**


	5. Experiment

**So I told you guys I was gonna start working and here I am, right after uploading my last chapter, working. I don't lie. Well, except for when I want to. Haha jk anyways, I just want you guys to know that although I am working on this and my season is over, I have a life. I have to start my summer homework soon, and won't be able to write as much then. Actually, it will be about like I'm still in season which kinda sux for you guys (unless you don't care about the story) but hey, I'm not perfect and neither are you! (sorry to shatter your delusions like that) Clearly, I've had too much caffeine tonight, and need to stop rambling. Anyways, here's the next chapter, which is uber important. So PAY ATTENTION.**

**I don't own MR.**

Nick

I look around nervously. Who will be the weakest? Who will lose? Who will not make it? Who will be sentenced to death by my sadistic father?

"Good luck. I will see you bright and early tomorrow for the surgery that will change your lives." He motions to the guards, and they walk over to us. At first I think they're going to take us somewhere again, but then, surprisingly, they open the cage and let me walk out.

One of the guards sees my surprise and laughs. "He's being nice. You have nowhere to run, so he figures he'll let you out, since you've been so good." He says the last part a little sarcastically, rolling his eyes. I look at him again and realize that he was one of the guards I knocked out in my attempt to save Max yesterday. Was that just yesterday? I feel like it's been months since I've seen the sun.

He lets me out, and then goes over to the other cages, letting everyone out. As soon as Max gets out, she walks over to the table, picks up the bear, and hands it to Angel. My heart warms as I see the rarely shown (yet obviously there) compassionate side of her. "Here sweetie. I'm sorry you two were kept apart. What's her name?" She opens Angel's cage and pulls her out, crouching down to talk to her. It's times like these, when she shows what a good person she is, that I love her the most.

Angel sniffs, and then smiles at her. "Celeste. Jakey got her for me when we were little. He found her on the streets and rescues her for me." Max looks over and nods approvingly at Jake, who is stretching his neck and legs, watching the two girls talk with interest.

I turn away, not wanting to ruin their moment. I hope for Max's sake that Angel is strong enough. I don't know how Max will take it if she doesn't.

I stretch my legs and arms when I get out, looking around at the room while I do. Ryan, Jake, and Mitchell are talking in a corner. Crystal is talking with a smiling Angel and a bored Max about hair and clothes. The table group is talking in hushed voices, about the competition no doubt. They are clearly ignoring the cage group. That's fine by me. I don't want anything to do with people who would volunteer to be experimented on.

Still, I walk calmly over to Ian and James, not saying a word. They look up, a question in their eyes. I don't speak. I don't think. I just punch them both, as hard as I can. I get Ian with my first blow, knocking him out cold. James is harder to get, but I manage to tackle him, getting four or five good solid lows on his face and stomach before Aaron pulls me off him. Aaron starts going at me, yelling about not messing with his friends. I don't hear anything except the blood rushing through my ears.

He apparently takes my not listening as disrespect, because he shakes me several times before pulling his arm back to throw a punch. Right before he lets his fist fly, a steady hand catches his elbow. I look, dazed, at Max, who is still holding his arm. She pulls him away from me, spinning him so that he is now the one on the wall. He struggles a bit, but she is pressing him firmly into the wall. I can tell that she is using all her strength, but to anyone else it probably looks like she's not trying at all.

She smiles sweetly at him before saying, her voice dripping with venom, "Do _not_ mess with Nick. If you lay a hand on him, I will gouge your eyes out and shove them up your ass so that you can see what a huge asshole you are. Do you understand?" He glares at her, as if trying to decide whether or not she's serious. Then he nods. She lets him go, and walks over to me.

As he walks away, I hear him mutter something about "crazy bitches". I know Max can hear it, which means that she's trying very hard not to turn around and attack him.

"I didn't need you to defend me, you know."

She smiles and says, "I know. But I like scaring the shit out of arrogant assholes. It's what I do best." I know she's just trying to make me feel better, and it's working. I can't help but laugh and disagree.

"You do best with snappy comebacks and quick defenses." She laughs again. The sound is musical. I love it when she laughs.

"What's gotten into you lately?" I'm pulled out of my daydream to see her smiling at me uncertainly.

"What?" Did I do something wrong?

"You're just so…happy. I didn't know that the trick to getting you to smile was to kidnap and experiment on you," she laughs.

"The trick to getting me to smile is you," I say as seriously as I can, holding her shoulders and locking eyes with her.

Her eyes go a little wide at my admission, but she takes a deep breath and calms down. "Nick, what I wanted to say earlier was that-" Max suddenly turns around and I see Angel standing behind her, holding onto the fabric of Max's shirt.

"You stood up to Aaron!" she says in a hushed whisper. She's looking at Max like she just walked on water. Max nods, a little confused. "No one does that!" Max smiles and shrugs.

"I'm not just anybody. And I don't like bullies." She lovingly reaches down and strokes the girl's perfect blond hair. "I'll stand up to him every time I have to." The girl smiles and hugs Max. Or rather, Max's legs. The girl really is tiny.

The door opens and the ape men come in again. "Bed time! Guys with me, girls with him!" The guy gestures to his buddy.

Max and I exchange a look, as if to say 'Really? You're gonna split up by gender like freaking summer camp?' A second later, Max says that exact thing.

The other ape guy, the one in charge of girls, comes over and backhands her. She stumbles back a few steps and I immediately move in front of her, blocking the ape guy. He's about to take a step, so I say in _my_ most menacing voice, "Try me."

The guy glares but turns away. "With me, now."

Max comes up behind me. "Nick…" I turn when I hear something that I have heard only twice before in her voice. She's scared. "What happens if we don't…if they keep us separated?" I take her hands in mine, and look deeply into her eyes with as much of a comforting look as I can muster.

"Hey, hey. That won't happen. They can't keep us apart. We've been together forever. And we'll stay that way." She nods, and I lean in to kiss her forehead and give her a bear hug. "It'll be okay," I whisper in her ear.

We're pushed apart and into dormitory rooms. There are four bunk beds. I wait until everyone has gotten the one they want, to avoid making waves, and end up taking the bottom bunk next to the door. Jake lies on top of mine. I look around to see the pairings. Aaron is splayed out on the top bunk next to the only window of the room. Peter is below him. Ian and James are on a bunk, and Ryan and Mitchell take up the final one. Clearly the separation is quite extended. I wonder how Max is doing for about an hour before exhaustion finally claims me.

Max

The gorilla guys walk into the room, and let us out. The only thing I can think to do is walk over to the table, grab the bear, and comfort the girl. It's like an instinct inside me. I laugh in my head as I wonder if my mother ever had this. Of course she didn't.

"Here sweetie. I'm sorry you two were kept apart. What's her name?"

She sniffles a bit before answering, "Celeste. Jakey got her for me when we were little. He found her on the streets and rescues her for me." I look over at Jake, her older brother. He's stretching, watching us curiously. I nod at him, acknowledging that he's a good older brother.

Crystal walks over and starts talking nonstop about hair-and-clothes-and-how-she-hasn't-had-anyone-to-talk-to-in-a-while-about-this-stuff-because-those-girls-at-the-table-ignore-her-and-Angel's-too-young-to-do-anything-but-nod-but-I'm-older-and-listen-to-her-so-she-finally-has-someone-to-talk-to.

I can't stand this kind of talk, but don't have the heart to tell her so. I just sort of nod and make agreeing or disagreeing noises as she talks.

We all turn as soon as we here a thud. I sigh, exasperated, when I see Nick punching James on the floor. He's normally acts calm, but I know he gets really mad sometimes. And knocking him and me out repeatedly would make him really mad.

I try not to interfere, instead trying to calm down the younger kids who are getting scared. Ryan comes over to watch them and says in my ear, "Go help him. After the shaking comes the hitting." I don't even acknowledge that I hear anything. I just walk over to the other side of the room, putting my mean face on.

I catch his arm just as Aaron is about to swing. He looks back, but I don't want his divided attention. So I push him around, holding him up against the wall. It takes all of my strength, but I manage to keep him from moving. I hope the shake in my arm isn't that obvious. I smile at him before saying, in the most menacing voice I can muster, ""Do _not_ mess with Nick." I think quickly and decide on a nice threat that I haven't used in a while. "If you lay a hand on him, I will gouge your eyes out and shove them up your ass so that you can see what a huge asshole you are. Do you understand?"

He reluctantly nods, and I let him go. As I walk towards Nick, I hear him mutter, "Crazy bitch," which I choose to ignore. I can't go after him every time he acts like a dick. I'd exhaust myself.

"I didn't need you to defend me, you know." I mentally roll my eyes. Guys always do this.

But I don't want him to feel bad, so I make a joke. "I know. But I like scaring the shit out of arrogant assholes. It's what I do best." He laughs and disagrees.

"You do best with snappy comebacks and quick defenses." I laugh, and the strangest look comes over his face. He's smiling his light up the world smile, but his eyes look like he's not even here.

"What's gotten into you lately?" He blinks, and then smiles again.

"What?" He can't stop smiling. Not that I mind, it's just unusual. Normally he's quiet and reserved when we're around other people.

"You're just so…happy. I didn't know that the trick to getting you to smile was to kidnap and experiment on you," I laugh, trying to keep the happy thing going. Instead, he gets all serious, holding my shoulders and staring into my eyes.

"The trick to getting me to smile is you," I don't know what to say. Here he is, admitting feelings for me for the second time in three days, and I still haven't told him anything. I want to get past this stage of declaring.

So I take a deep breath, put on my own serious face, and say, "Nick, what I wanted to say earlier was that-" I turn when I feel a tugging on my shirt. Standing there is Angel, looking so adorable it makes my heart burst.

"You stood up to Aaron!" she says in a hushed whisper. I nod, a little confused. Doesn't anybody do that around here? "No one does that!" Guess not. I smile and shrug, playing the humble hero.

"I'm not just anybody. And I don't like bullies." I reach down and stroke her perfect blond hair. If I were to have a daughter, I'd want her to be just like Angel. "I'll stand up to him every time I have to." She smiles and hugs the highest part of me she can reach, which happens to be my legs. I reach down and hug her back.

Suddenly, the gorilla men walk in. They always ruin the best moments.

"Bed time! Guys with me, girls with him!" The guy gestures to his friend.

I look over at Nick, as if to say 'Really? You're gonna split up by gender like freaking summer camp?' He nods, smiling a bit, so I say it aloud.

The gorilla in charge of girls comes over and backhands me. It stings, but I've been through worse, in the last few days alone. Still, I stumble back a few steps and see Nick, my hero, step in front of me protectively. Right now, at his full height, back strong and eyes narrowed, he looks like a fairytale prince, come to save the princess. Then I realize that I'm the princess and groan. Gorilla lifts her foot to take a step and Nick says, in a scary voice, "Try me."

The guy glares but turns away. "With me, now."

I walk up tentatively behind Nick. "Nick…" He turns and looks at me, eyes wide with worry. He sees that I'm scared. "What happens if we don't…if they keep us separated?" He wraps my hands in his, lending me his warmth and strength. Immediately, I feel better.

"Hey, hey. That won't happen. They can't keep us apart. We've been together forever. And we'll stay that way." I nod, loving that he can make me feel so good when everything around us is so bad. He kisses my forehead and wraps me in his arms. I could stay like this forever, protected by his strength and warmth. "It'll be okay," he whispers to me. His breath tickles my neck, and I sigh in content.

We go our separate ways for bed, but I feel better now. Angel stays close to me, which I don't mind. The girls file into a dorm room. It has four bunk beds and two dressers. Since there were only seven of us, one person got a bunk to themselves. Heather and Elle got the bunk next to the window, Crystal and Angel shared, and Victoria and Amber claimed the last one. Which left me to the bunk by the door. I took the bottom bunk, not wanting to bother with the climb. Despite my fears for tomorrow, I fell asleep quickly.

Halfway through the night, I woke to someone shaking me. It took me a minute, but I finally realized that Angel was standing over me. "I'm scared. Can I sleep with you?" I'm about to tell her no, I need my sleep. But then I see her lip tremble, and I sigh.

"Of course, sweetie." I lift the cover and she climbs in gratefully, curling herself up next to me. I wrap an arm around her and try to relax again. Mostly I just stare at the ceiling the whole night, But I occasionally fall into fitful sleep, only to be woken by a tossing Angel.

Whatever. Not like I need sleep for what could be the most important day of my life.

Nick

I wake in the middle of the night to a hand clamped over my mouth. I look up and see Aaron standing over me. His other hand goes to my throat. "If you think you can just come in here and steal my reputation, then you are sadly mistaken. I'm the big dog here, and you'd do well to remember it."

I choke out a weak, "What?" I have no idea why he wants to kill me, but he's really trying hard.

"Don't play dumb!" His grip on my throat tightens when he says 'don't'. "I saw you and Heather exchanging looks. She's mine! So just deal with it." I know whatever protests I make will be useless, so I just put my hands up. His grip loosens a little.

"Point taken. Sorry, I'll stay away." He nods in approval, and my gut hurts a little. I hate having to be submissive to a dick like this, but there's really no other option when someone's about to kill you.

"You know, you would be a good addition to the table. If you could learn some manners, we might be able to forget that you were caged." My stomach twists into knots and it takes everything I have not to throw up.

I just nod. I won't do anything with them, and I figure tomorrow I'll be able to take him if he tries anything.

He lets go, and walks back to his bunk, clearly pleased with himself.

Douche bag.

I can't sleep the rest of the night, instead staring at the ceiling and thinking of Max. I eventually fall into fitful sleep, but wake up again early. When the apes walk in the next morning, I'm the first one up.

They walk us to a line of rooms, one in front and one in back. Each one of us is put in our own room. I don't know where Max is. I assume I'll see her tomorrow if we have to train.

When I stumble into my room, I see only white walls and a guy with a syringe full of purple-black liquid. He has a fold up chair, which he sits me down in. "This is only going to hurt a lot." With that, he stabs the needle into my neck. Immediately, I feel an aching pain. It starts at the injection site, but then spreads. I feel it creeping into my chest and arm, and then into my leg. It has completely covered one side of my body before I start to feel it traveling upward, into my face. I groan. The chair suddenly feels much better.

One of the walls flashes, and I realize that it isn't a wall at all. It's a screen. Jeb's face appears. "Greetings subject. You have just been injected with a new serum. You should feel the serum spreading into your blood, bone, and muscle. The good news is that you will soon black out. The bad news is that it will be due to excruciating pain. If you are strong, you will complete the transformation. If you are strong, you will be granted immeasurable powers. If you are strong, you will survive. Good luck."

I stumble, up, going to hit the wall. I get one good knuckle-splitting punch in before the screen shuts off. The man with the syringe leaves, taking the chair with him. Now it's just me, alone, in a white washed room, left to either 'transform' or die.

I start pounding on the door. "What the hell did you do to us? What kind of sick bastards are you? You did this to a child! You did this to fifteen children! I can't wait till you die. There's a special level in hell for all of you!"

I'm going to say more, but the spreading stops. I realize that it has finished spreading. I look at my arm and see something strange. My arm is literally glowing. Like not the sparkly type of glowing that means you're beautiful, but the scary kind that means you're a freak. It's not exactly bright, either. It's a purple-ish glow, rather like a UV light bulb has been turned on _inside my arm_. Everywhere I can see, my body is glowing. I tear my shirt off and see my chest is glowing too.

That's when the pain starts. Everything suddenly feels cold and muted. Blackness starts to invade my vision, but I push it back. I feel a tugging sensation, like my body is being pulled apart, fiber by fiber. My eyes, my mouth, my arms, everything. I stumble back, fighting the urge to scream. I sit down heavily against the wall, hugging myself as if to keep myself in one piece. I wonder if any of us are going to survive. Then I remember what Jeb said about blacking out and sigh. If we're supposed to, then I might as well give in to the black depths that have been hovering at the edge of my vision. With a sigh and a groan, I fall unconscious.

Max

They take us all, single file, to a hallway of rooms. I don't know what to expect, but hope that they'll at least give us anesthesia. Angel clings to my side until they make us go into our own rooms, and my heart breaks when I hear her crying. Inside the room is a woman holding a syringe full of red-orange liquid, and a fold up chair. She pulls me inside and makes me sit down.

"This is going to hurt. A lot." With that, she jabs me in the neck with the needle, and pushes the liquid into my vein. Immediately, I feel an ache shoot down from my neck, to my chest, to my arm, to my legs, and then finally, up through my face. I don't know what's going on, but so bad, the pain isn't as intense as the woman thought it would be. I can feel the liquid seeping into every fiber of my being, assaulting my muscles, bones, and blood.

The wall that I thought was a wall flashes, and I realize that it's a big screen. Mr. Bowers' face appears on the screen, which only makes me feel sicker. "Greetings subject. You have just been injected with a new serum. You should feel the serum spreading into your blood, bone, and muscle. The good news is that you will soon black out. The bad news is that it will be due to excruciating pain. If you are strong, you will complete the transformation. If you are strong, you will be granted immeasurable powers. If you are strong, you will survive. Good luck." What a creep.

The woman shoves me out of the chair, taking it and the syringe with her. Now I am alone in a room with a suspicious liquid in my veins that could kill me. For some reason, my thoughts go to my mom. How funny that while Jeb cares too much, she never seemed to care enough. I wonder if she even knows that I'm missing, if she's even worried for me.

The rage that's been building in my chest for a while, rage that I didn't even know I had, bursts forth. I hate Ian. I hate James. I hate my mother. I hate Jeb. I hate Aaron. I hate the woman who injected me with this. I hate everything right now.

I start screaming, just yelling at the wall where Jeb's face was. "You arrogant bastards! You think I'm just gonna sit there and take this? You think you can get away with injecting children with experimental liquid that causes immense pain? You think you can do this to us? Well you're wrong if you do! I'm gonna survive this! I'm gonna wake up with abilities that far surpass your own! And then, once I've made sure that everyone I love is safe, I'm gonna find and kill you! I don't care where you go, where you hide! I don't care if it takes years! I'm gonna kill you!"

I'm going to say something about hell and how the devil will side with me, but I'm interrupted by _a lot_ of pain. I feel fire. Nothing but fire. My blood is boiling, my limbs are burning. My chest is being stabbed by flames. I look down at my arms, checking to make sure that they aren't really on fire, and then realize that my arms are glowing. Like someone turned on a red light in my arm. I stare at it until the fire gets to my eyes. Then, my vision is nothing but red. I collapse, twitching. I can't see or hear or move. My whole world has been consumed by flames. And then suddenly, blissfully, blackness comes. I sink into it gratefully. It's something other than flames. My world is still gone, but now I'm at least numb.

My last thought before I give myself completely to the darkness is of Nick. I hope he survives. Even if I don't, I hope to God that he does.

**Okay so that was kind of hard for me to put into words. I hope you understand what I was talking about when I described the pain sequences. Anyways, there yak go. I'm gonna work on my AP HW for a bit before I get into STML…as always, I really appreciate your feedback. So if you like it, tell me. If you don't, tell me. Thanks again. See you soon!**


	6. Gifted

**Alright guys. I'm back. And I realize that I've been really bad about giving you guys links for the pictures of what I'm talking about. So i'm going to post a pic of the cove, Max's bike, and Nick's car.**

**I am going to start school soon, along with a (I didn't even know that it was possible) more intense softball schedule. So I don't know how consistent my updates will be. After I finish this, I'll start working on another chapter for my other story, STML (the scars that memory leave). It's nearing the climax, and if you haven't read it, there's always time to jump in I write all of my stories so that they can stand on their own (proverbial) two feet. So no worries if you haven't read the VA series. **

**Enough self marketing! Back to the story at hand. I realized that I didn't give you a description of Max. She is 5'6, light brown sun-streaked hair, green/blue eyes, athletic/slim build. In case I didn't mention it James is 5'8 with strawberry blonde hair in a faux hawk and grayish blue eyes on top of an athletic/slim build (Iggy as I imagine him), Ian is 5'7 with brown hair (flipped forward) and brown eyes on top of a muscle build. Nick is 5'10 but I described the rest of him. **

**I also changed the skulking Mexican's name (from the last chapter) to Dannie. I realized that I want Max's real name to be Tori (Victoria) and they can't have the same name. So she is now Dannie. Just FYI.**

**I modeled their band, Fallen, after Paramore. So they will sing mostly Paramore songs, when they start that. It'll be like they are Paramore, so the songs they 'write' are really Paramore songs that I don't own. Got is? Alright. I think that's all that I forgot to mention about this story.**

* * *

><p><span>Nick<span>

I wake up in the same room, but the nurse is now sitting on the other side of a table that I've been chained to. I guess I survived. Lucky me. I feel- surprisingly- fine. In fact, the pain seems almost like a dream. But I know it's not. Because there's an annoyingly talkative nurse sitting in front of me talking to me about how lucky I am that the scientists chose me and how he wanted to be chosen but they had said that he didn't qualify but they had said that he could work there and he had said that it was almost as good.

I roll my eyes and tilt my head back so that I'm looking at the ceiling. I don't want to deal with this all day, and I've found that the best way to get someone to shut up is to lead by example.

He stops talking, confused. "What?"

"I don't want to hear about how lucky I am that I'm a freaking mutant _against my will_," I say to the ceiling. The scowl is present in my voice, and even though I'm speaking quietly, he gets the message loud and clear.

"Fine. We'll stick to business then." I almost want to thank him, but I fear that he'll just get off topic again.

"You, Nick Bowers, have been given an amazing gift." He pointedly ignores my eye roll. "Well, two amazing gifts. That we know about. Each and every one of you has received a modified version of the same serum. The modification you received is directly related to your attitude and test results. So if you have a fiery attitude, you received the fiery modification." My thoughts instantly go to Max. So she now has fire. I wonder what that leaves me with.

I lower my gaze to stare him straight in the eye, and he visibly gulps at the look in my eyes. "So what did I receive?"

He shifts in his seat for a few moments before saying, "I can't tell you." I grimace. "You have to figure it out on your own."

"Oh, please," I say before fixing my gaze back on the ceiling.

"You know, you really are a pleasure."

"You're sarcasm is refreshing." He rolls his eyes. "So that's one gift. What's the other?"

"Well, basically, you'll be able to take the shape and size of any animal that you have seen in person." My eyes go wide. If I had liquid in my mouth, I would have sprayed it out like they do no those stupid comedy shows.

"I told you that you were lucky. But you insisted that this is a horrible curse. Well it's not."

I'm speechless. Any animal I've seen? I could go to a zoo and be limitless.

"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that your power is now limitless. Aren't you?" I shrug. "Well it isn't. You will choose one animal. For instance, a tiger. For the rest of your existence, you will be able to shift into a tiger. You will also be able to go into a sort of half-shift. Each animal's half form looks different. Earlier, you saw an ape's half."

"Cool," I say as flippantly as I can. I'm not quite as good as Max at this, but being almost as good as Max is really saying something.

He rolls his eyes again. "It _is_ cool. And you don't seem to get that." I shrug again, witch makes him sigh again. "Tomorrow we will start the physical part of your tutorial. But we're done for today." He starts to get up to leave, but I have to ask him one more question before he goes.

"Do you know if Max made it?" He turns around, a sneer on his face.

"No, I don't."

He walks out of the door, leaving me to worry my brains out for the rest of the day.

Max

When I wake up, I feel completely normal. Like, no fire burning me alive normal. Like the whole thing was just a dream. Except it wasn't, because the same nurse is sitting at a table. She's staring at me coldly, as if I've done something to her.

My mind is still foggy, and I try to recap on what's happened.

I've had a procedure done on me against my will.

Said procedure has made me a freak.

The nurse hates me.

I hate the nurse.

I'm chained to a table with said nurse.

I have no way of escaping.

The only positive thing that occurs to me is that at least I'm alive. I don't know about Nick and the others, but I'm hoping to god that they are.

I try to cover my fear with my usual defense: blatant disregard for my situation and teenage flippancy. I stare down the nurse, doing my best to imitate her look. After about a minute of staring, she looks down at her papers. I take a little bit of satisfaction in the fact that I won the staring contest. Dumb, I know, but I take what I get.

"Victoria Maxine Ride." I hate my name. Just, hate it. That's why I go by Max. The fact that she's mentioning my horrible name is not scoring her any points. "Quite impressive, really, considering the way that you were accepted into the program. You didn't have any time to train for the testing, yet you scored near the top in all five areas. In fact," she leans in like she's going to tell me a secret, "Do you want to know something interesting?" I shrug, not betraying my burning curiosity. "You were tied for the lead in leadership abilities. I find that interesting. Do you?"

I shrug again. "I'm decent in the classroom, run four times a week, captain of the lacrosse team. It's really not all that surprising." My voice sounds much calmer than I actually am, so I fold my arms across my chest and lean back in my chair.

"Despite your interesting situation, you have been gifted. Are you ready to hear the results of the procedure?"

I resist the urge to scream at her. This isn't a freaking present. It's a very painful curse. Instead, I decide to go with more insolence. "Sure. What has the oh-so-_wonderful_ Dr. Bowers _gifted_ me with?" I put extra venom on my sarcastic words.

She isn't phased. "Two things. The first is the ability to take the shape and size of any animal you have seen in person. Only one, though. For the rest of your existence, you will be able to take the form of that animal, and a half form. Every half form looks different. You saw the Halfs of apes." Huh. They were apes. Who knew? "During training, we will give you a special injection after you have chosen an animal, so that you will be able to choose a different animal. After training, though, you will be stuck with one."

I think about becoming another species in a matter of seconds. The thought is mind-blowing.

"And the second?" I hide my blown mind well.

"Each subject was injected with a modified version of the same serum. The part of the serum that everyone got was the shifting gene. The modification varies depending on the personality of the subject. So if you are a fiery person, you got a fiery modification. Understand?" I think about the sensation I felt, and repress a smile.

"Perfectly."

"That's surprising," she says in a laughing tone. Let me just get something straight with you. I _hate_ it when people laugh at me. It just snaps something in me.

"You know what surprises me?"

She smiles, amused, and shakes her head.

"It surprises me that you're not testing on your own children. Oh, wait. You don't have any children, do you?" Her smile falls almost imperceptibly before she puts the front back on, but it's all I need. I press the point. "You're what, 45? No ring, which I hope means no children. I mean, I know that you're a monster, but I would assume that even monsters like you have standards." By now, her mask is gone, and her eyes are blazing with anger.

"Now listen here-" She tries to take control of the conversation, but I just roll right through her speech.

"So that means, what, you just can't find that special someone? I mean, it's really not that surprising. I wouldn't be able to find someone either, if I was a psychopathic monster who experimented on innocent children. Or even better, you've found that special someone, but he doesn't feel the same way? So sad, but then again, I hear that whole psychopathic monster thing can be a real turn-off. You're probably gonna die alone, with a bunch of mutated cats that don't really love you and-" She interrupts me by slapping me across the face. I'm not all that surprised, and I'm careful to keep the smirk on my face.

"Tsk, tsk. Men don't like women who slap children."

She sneers, finally fighting back. "Yeah? Well I've heard that it's a turn-off to be a complete _freak_. You want to know what you are now? You're not even _human_. Who's the monster now, FREAK?"

I feel a strange fire in the pit of my stomach, and a slight burning behind my eyes. I'm just so _angry_. I just can't stand it.

I go off on her, in a deadly low voice that starts rising as I speak until I'm finally yelling. "You made me this way. You evil bitch! You know what's going to happen now? I'm going to kill you. You're lucky that I'm chained to this table, because the first chance I get, I'm going to kill you! THE FIRST CHANCE I GET, YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD, YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!" As I spit the last word at her, the most incredible thing happens to me. _I light on fire._

That's right, actual fire. _So this is what she meant._ I smile to myself. I feel like a human torch.

And the weirdest part is that _I'm not burning. _It's like the fire that was in my stomach has spread into every part of my body. I look down and see that my chains have started to soften._ I'm melting metal._

I feel really strong, and in a bold move, I stand up and break through the links. I stretch my shoulders, still fuming, and look down at the nurse, who is now cowering in the corner, her chair tipped over.

"P-please. H-have m-m-mercy," she stutters as I take a step closer to her. She's crying now, and something in my gut twinges. I sigh.

"You know the difference between you and me?" She shakes her head so fast that I think it's going to spin right off. "I have humanity. You do not." I sit down against the wall, and the flames sputter out.

She gets up without a word and runs from the room. I put my head in my hands, and take deep breaths. _I refuse to cry. I refuse to cry. I refuse to cry._ I keep telling myself that, but somehow the tears still spill out.

Nick

I'm sitting there for a while, just sitting still, breathing deeply. My own thoughts have consumed me, so I'm oblivious to the fact that the night has come and gone, and the door is opening. In fact, it's not until I hear the frantic footsteps that I look up.

I just see the back of Ape-guy as he runs out of the room, yelling. "He's escaped! Call security! Lock down the building! He's escaped!" What? Is he blind? I'm right here. Imbecile.

I look down at my arm and realize that he was right. _I'm not there. _I can't see myself. But I know that I'm here. What's happening?

I start to freak out, and I can feel my breathing getting erratic and my heart beating faster. _Why can't I see myself? Am I dead? _I stand up, and I see _the chain raising into the air on its own._ WTF?

As I move, I see myself reappearing. It's like I was translucent, and now the fill is fading back in. I've just finished reappearing when the door starts to open. I quickly sit down, still chained to the desk.

The ape man and a security guard walk in, and I see the ape guy's mouth drop. "But he wasn't here! I swear! He was gone!"

I cock my eyebrow. "What? How would I have gotten out of my chains?"

The security scowls and turns to the ape. "Go home. I think you've had one too many shifts in a row." The guard turns and walks out of the door, leaving the ape to stare at me.

"But you- you weren't here!" I shrug and give him my salute.

He shakes his head and walks to me, unlocking my chains and pulling me up. "Time for training."

As we walk, I try to figure out what the hell just happened to me. Clearly, it has something to do with the experiment. What was it the nurse had said? The experiment reflects the personality.

So I guess my personality translated to, what, invisible? I mean, I can be quiet, but that's just because it's easier to let Max do the talking while I do the thinking. She likes being loud, and I don't. So I can be quiet. But _invisible_? Really?

Then again, I guess invisibility can have its perks. If I can figure out how to control it. But I guess that's what the training is for. The training that I have right now. Crap.

Max

My tears have long dried by the time they come to get me. Sleep didn't come in the night. Not that I really expected it to. I came really close to killing someone. I don't think I'll get over that any time soon. The only positive thing that I can think of now is that I'll be able to see Nick again. I can't wait to see him. I've been worrying about him all day.

I enter the "training facility." I'm pretty much the last one here. Great. Nick sees me and smiles. I run into his arms, and he gives me a long hug, whispering, "It's okay. We're okay."

I look around to find our surroundings a little bit odd. There are a bunch of animal exhibits, complete with plaques and animals. It's as if we're at the zoo. We walk around, side by side, looking at each animal. There's a Siberian tiger, a tundra wolf, a grizzly bear, a cheetah, a great white shark, an African Lion, an Orca Whale, and a whole lot of birds. There's an atrium stocked full of them. "Peregrine Falcon, Philippine Eagle, Red-Tailed Hawk, Great horned Owl, Hummingbird, Andean Condor," I try to read the plaque, but there are just too many of them.

On the other side of the animals (the field is super huge, like a football stadium huge) is a sort of pen, with wooden training dummies and targets. So, we're going to be honing our skills. I shrug to myself. At least it isn't going to be a boring day of calculus. I don't think I'll ever have another one of those.

I look around at the other subjects, curious to see how everyone else is handling the situation. The cage group is milling around, generally in the same group. The table group has stuck together, save for their douche-y leader. I see Aaron admiring the lion, and laugh. Nick looks at me, and I point to Aaron. "He really does want to be king." Nick chuckles next to me, warming my insides. _I could deal with being a freak, if it meant being a freak with him_, I think to myself.

Then Dr. Bowers walks in and, once again, interrupts our moment. "Hello, again. I see all of you made it through the procedure. Excellent! Now we can begin the training!" I hear some murmurs about not knowing what we're training for, and I know that Bowers does, too. "I'm sure you're all wondering what you are training for. Well, the answer is simple, really. The United States Military forces have asked for a new breed of soldiers. They have asked for super soldiers. They have asked for you. So, by the end of training, you will have been put into two special squads, lead by two people that I will select from the twelve survivors. These squads will form a Special Task Platoon that the army will use as they see fit. Congratulations. You will spend the rest of your existence serving your country."

I'm speechless. Everyone is. They've literally sold our souls. And to the Army, no less.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so that was kinda long, but it was worth it, in my opinion. I hope it was wort hit in yours, too. Anyways, I'll start working on STML after I get another chapter done on my homework. In the meantime, pleasepleaseplease review! I WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY! Whether it's a slam or a compliment, or even just a simple, 'update soon', I want to hear it! So, <strong>

**Please? It's not even that hard, just click that little link and make me that much happier to be entertaining you.**


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